A
clinical aptitude test originally pioneered by The University of Nottingham has
been proven to be a significant predictor of performance in medical students.

The
UKCAT was launched in 2006 in response to a need to widen access to medical
education and provide a supplementary assessment in the context of so-called A
level grade inflation. The test has become a market leader in the selection
process and is now used by 26 out of the 32 medical and dental schools in the
UK.

Now
new research into its fairness and effectiveness, published in the open access journal BMC Medicine, has revealed that the UKCAT
is a powerful indicator of performance of medical students in their first year
examinations.

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Fair competition

The
collaborative study, ‘UKCAT-12’, examined 4,811 students in 12 medical schools
using the UKCAT from 2006, when it was first launched, to 2008. First year
medical school exam results from these cohorts were available in 2008 to 2010.

UKCAT
scores and educational attainment measures such as A-levels and Scottish
Highers, were found to be significant predictors of outcome in the analysed
data from the study. Overall there was a highly significant correlation between
prior educational attainment and overall first year medical school mark. The UKCAT
predicted outcome better in female students than male students, and better in
mature than non-mature students.

Examining the data

The
UKCAT-12 study used four key measures considered in turn, and in relation to
each other:

Medical school performance in
the first year exams

Two important sets of
predictors (measures of prior educational attainment and scores on the
UKCAT test)

A wide range of background
measures (demographic, secondary schooling, socio-economic and other
measures)

Of 4,811 medical students, using a four-point outcome scale, 4,056 (84.3%) passed all their first year examinations without re-sits, 565 (11.7%) progressed from the first year after re-sits, 94 (2.0%) were required to repeat the first year, and 96 (2.0%) left the medical school following examination failure. Altogether 109 students left medical school, in 55 cases for Academic Reasons, and in 49 for non-Academic reasons (3 after repeating the first year, and 10 after passing the first year exams) and in five cases for reasons unknown.

Towards a level playing field

Medical
school performance was also predicted by a contextual measure of secondary
schooling, with students from secondary schools with greater average attainment
at A-level (irrespective of public or private sector) performing less well.
This is important information for medical schools trying to level the playing
field for applicants and widen participation in the medical profession.

The
results show the power of large scale studies of medical education for
answering previously unanswerable but important questions about selection,
education and training. The research suggests that the UKCAT is continuing to
provide a more level playing field for prospective undergraduates seeking
access to the medical profession.

UKCAT
is an admission test used by 26 Universities within admissions to medicine and
dentistry. The test is taken by around 25,000 candidates a year.
The test comprises separately timed subtests assessing verbal, quantitative and
abstract reasoning, decision making and situational judgement. Further
details regarding the test can be found on the UKCAT website (www.ukcat.ac.uk).